Half of employers now offer wellness strategy, says Buck

Almost half of employers now provide wellness programmes to motivate and retain staff, according to new research by Buck Consultants.

Half of the 64 major UK institutions surveyed in Bucks’ Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies research had a wellness strategy for their employees in place in 2009, with employee stress the key factor in encouraging bosses to implement wellness initiatives.†

The survey analysed responses from more than 1,100 organisations representing 10 million employees in 45 countries.

On a global level, the research found that 46% of multinational companies have implemented a wellness strategy, a rise of more than a fifth in the past year.†

It also revealed that 97% of the UK companies that presently implement a wellness programme said they were motivated by the objective of improving worker productivity and reducing ‘presenteeism’ (employees who stay longer hours in the office to give the impression of productivity but who do no productive work).

Almost a third (30%) of UK companies who measured employee productivity and presenteeism after implementing a wellness strategy said they had seen major, or fairly major, impact and that overall productivity had improved.

Adrian Norris, managing director of the health and productivity practice at Buck Consultants UK, said: “Improving the health and wellbeing of employees is not only part of a company’s duty of care to its staff, it can be a cost effective way for companies to improve their productivity and help retain top talent. Stress levels are higher in the workplace and the negative impact this can have on motivation, productivity and employee churn is notable.”